Fallen Crest Home (Fallen Crest High #6)(71)

Logan and I shared a look. James wouldn’t fire Caldron. There’d be no point.

He saw the look. “Oh yeah. That right there says I’m right. I got ‘handled’ just like I’m here to ‘handle’ you guys.”

“Who fired you?”

Caldron looked at me, his arms folding over his chest. The bat hung down at his side. “The person who hired me to go after your asses.” He pointed the bat at everyone around him. “That’s what we’re doing here—what I was hired to do in the first place.”

“And that was?” I was getting tired of his chatter. A deep anger began to boil inside of me.

“Yeah.” Logan shoved at the guy closest to him. “Get to the fucking point.”

Caldron smirked, and I smirked back, but I glanced over at Nate. All the attention had been focused on us. Even the guys who were “watching” Nate hadn’t been watching him. I caught a quick flash of light from his phone. He stashed it back in his pocket and nodded to me.

He’d called the cops.

It was the old system we had in place for times like this: Logan and I drew everyone’s attention, and Nate called for backup. Sadly, our backup had to be actual law enforcement this time. These guys weren’t just here to hurt us. They were here for blood.

We needed to hold them off long enough, or we were dead.

Logan rolled his shoulders and gave a small dip of his head. He was ready.

I squared off against Caldron. I wanted to fight, but I wanted answers, too. “Who really hired you? You’re not after us because of Budd, are you?”

Caldron started laughing, tipping his head back like a hyena. “No, no. You guys did me a favor with him. Since he’s out, I’m the guy in charge. With him gone, I’m on top.” A serious look settled in his eyes, and I knew I was looking into a murderer’s gaze. “Quinn hired me the same day he and your daddy had a meeting. He knew I was already working for your dad. We were supposed to do the landscaping for that hotel they’re opening. Quinn thought I could keep an eye on you, but your dad messed that up. He postponed the landscaping. We don’t start until this next week, now that everything’s almost done with the hotel. But it doesn’t matter, because this is the real job he hired me for. I was supposed to keep you from getting too close to his son.”

“To Adam?” That was why he kept trying to attack us. “That’s why you went after Sam so much?”

Caldron nodded, swinging the bat like he was warming up for batting practice. “Yep. She’s your weakness. Keep going after her and you wouldn’t be able to concentrate on whatever your daddy put you up to. You’d be too focused on keeping your girl safe.”

He paused a moment. “My guess is your dad stuck you with little Quinn to watch him, right?”

I didn’t offer a response, and he shrugged.

“Doesn’t matter if you don’t confirm it. I know it’s true, just like I know I got a call an hour ago to be on the lookout if you made a move. I’m thinking you coming to your dad’s office at midnight was the move. Am I right? I know I am. I also know there was a breach in security at some offsite location Quinn uses. I know your girlfriend had a cozy chat with Quinn Jr.’s fiancée, and that same fiancée broke down crying to Quinn Jr. earlier this afternoon. Now,” he spread his arms, “I have no clue what you made a copy of, but that’s what I was told to get from you. Since we got here too late and it looks like you’ve already delivered it, we’re going to have to do this the hard way.”

“You mean the bloody way.”

“Whichever way you want. Either your daddy brings it out to save your asses, or we step over your bodies to get it. It’s up to you.”

I heard sirens in the distance, but they were almost coming too soon. I wanted this guy’s blood on the ground. I wanted it all over, and I wanted to be the one who broke him in half. We’d had enough. I didn’t need to hear any more to understand what had gone down.

“I would’ve thought you’d get tired of this, Caldron.”

“What do you mean?” His eyes twitched, just briefly.

“This. You. Me. Fighting.” I grinned, knowing it didn’t reach my eyes. “You losing.”

He swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down. “That’s what you think is going to happen?”

Logan and Nate shifted. They were ready to fight.

I stepped away from the Escalade. “I know that’s what’s going to happen. I always beat you, Caldron. I always will; no matter how many guys you bring with you.”

He moved back, as did his guys. It was like I had an invisible force protecting me. But if I’d heard the sirens, they must’ve, too.

“What?” I asked. “You know you can’t finish this fight before those cops show up?”

“Who says they’re coming here?” He tossed the bat up, catching it like he was going to swing at a baseball. He held it above his head.

I narrowed my eyes. “What are you talking about?”

“They have to prioritize their calls,” he said. “It’s a small police department. I’d think a burning nursing home would take priority over a text about brawling from someone’s cell phone.” He looked right at Nate. “I saw that, you know.”